Kristi Bonney offers tried-and-true tips for capturing the glow of winter festivities with the new Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 VC USD lens.

Kristi Bonney used the Tamron SP 24-70mm F/2.8 VC USD lens to showcase how she celebrates the holiday season against a backdrop of eye-catching illumination, taking advantage of the 24-70's Vibration Compensation feature to minimize camera shake (especially important when shooting lighting schemes) and its fast maximum F/2.8 aperture to create those soft, blurred backgrounds that give holiday images that special glow.

Read on for Kristi's tips on taking pictures of your holiday lights as they shine down on the festivities taking place around you.

Keep it steady.

I try to use a tripod where I can when shooting these types of images. I'd recommend even resting your camera on a box or other stable surface if you don't have a tripod available. Using a shutter release or the timer on your camera will also take you a long way in terms of avoiding a shaky image. A great thing about the 24-70 is its Vibration Compensation feature, which is terrific if you're shooting without a tripod. The VC always helps me get sharp, beautiful images.

Don't rely on autofocus and go low on the ISO.

My biggest challenge when shooting holiday lights, especially at night, is focus. The camera tends to have a more difficult time trying to zero in with this kind of photography. So, if I'm shooting a decorated house at night, for example, I'll switch to manual focus so I have more control and can actually tweak it to my liking.

If I'm using a tripod while shooting holiday lights, I'll go for as low an ISO as I can without creating too much noise, and I adjust my shutter speeds from there. I'll increase exposure in the areas of the photo where I really want to bring out the details.

Pick the appropriate white balance.

For outdoor lights, I usually shoot using the Daylight setting because I don't want the temperature to be too cool in those images. For indoor shots of the lights, especially at night, I set my white balance for Tungsten. That way, you get those superwarm colors that you want to show when shooting indoors at night.

Use the lights to create an attractive bokeh.

Who doesn't like a good bokeh? It's easier to create than people think when shooting holiday lights. One of the cool things I did for this shoot: I bought two sets of holiday lights and strung them out on the wall behind my daughter. I tried not to make them too uniform but simply created a "curtain" of light behind her. I then pulled her forward and shot her at F/2.8, experimenting with different compositions and framing.

Shooting ornaments is another way to work with holiday lights and bokeh. I like to take ornaments that interest me and really work on composition to create the most interesting effect with the lights (don't be worried about moving your ornaments around - you can always put them back when you're done!). For the ornaments I showed on the outdoor silver tree, I shot them at F/4.5 - I didn't want everything too blurry, since I still wanted to get all the glitter and sparkle and some of the other detail in the background.

For the indoor tree, however, I took a different approach. I wanted to really focus in on a couple of ornaments that are special to me. For instance, I have a pair of baby boot ornaments that my mom gave me for one of my children's first Christmases. I wanted to use the lights as part of a more blurred background so I could really highlight that ornament.

Show a beautifully lit scene in black and white

Not every image you take when showing your holidays in lights has to be in color. I had taken a series of shots of my daughter at the window as she waited for Santa. Of course, he's taking forever and she's fallen asleep! There's a gorgeous lit Christmas tree in the background, but I noticed when I shot it in full color, it was kind of busy and clashed with what I was trying to highlight. I definitely wanted to show that lit tree, but what I really wanted to focus on was my daughter at the window with the twinkling little lights lighting her face. Converting to black and white helped me refocus on my subject. Black and white can help to minimize the distractions of color but still show the effect of the holiday lights in combination with your subjects. It adds drama and creates emotion and depth.

Especially if you have kids, watch for those times when they're showing enthusiasm for the holiday you're celebrating. There's no way they can fake that excitement. They're checking out ornaments, peeking at presents - grab your camera so you'll have those moments forever.

To see more of Kristi Bonney's work, go to http://www.liveandloveoutloud.com.